Container with device for cleaning tools for spreading putties and paints

ABSTRACT

A container with a lid provided with an access slot, which is provided internally with an elastic clamp adapted to retain, in alignment with the slot in the lid, a cleaning element, which comprises two facing layers of permeable and abrasive material, between which a tool to be cleaned is made to slide, the tool being inserted and moved through the slot in the lid.

The present invention relates to a container with a device for cleaningtools for spreading putties and paints, aimed at the field of body shopsfor industrial machines and vehicles, joiner's workshops, and thebuilding sector.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the background art, operators who fill and paint surfaces spreadputties with spatulas and stir paints, in order to mix the components,by means of sticks or other slender elongated elements.

As a consequence of use, the surfaces of these tools become covered withthe product spread and/or mixed thereby, and said product must beremoved before it solidifies in order to allow the tool to remainefficient without having to resort, for its removal, to grinding wheelsor other means which might damage such tools.

In the background art, such tools are cleaned normally by using brusheswet by solvent liquids, by means of which the surfaces to be cleaned ofthe tools are rubbed until the residues of putties and paints depositedthereon are removed.

This relatively long and laborious operation is normally performed overa tray into which the solvent is poured and on which the tool to becleaned with the brush is rested. In this operation, the solvent incontact with the air tends to evaporate and make the environmentunhealthy.

Further, this cleaning operation entails dangers, since sparks producedby grinding wheels, cigarette tabs or others may fall onto the tray withthe solvent exposed to the air and may set fire to the solvent, withpossible propagation of the flames to all the parts wet by the solventand therefore with the easily imaginable dangers that can derive fromthis.

Another drawback of the method described above is the need, at the endof the operation, to clean the brush with water and rags in order toprotect it from the corrosive action of the solvent, thus contributingto the diffusion of unhealthy vapors in the environment.

Finally, another drawback is the need to leave the wet spatulas andsticks exposed to the air in order to dry, often losing them becausethey are inadvertently thrown away with paper and other waste productsin the trashcan.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The aim of the present invention is to provide a device for cleaningtools used to spread putties and mix paints which allows to performcleaning rapidly and efficiently, reducing the time currently dedicatedto this operation.

Within this aim, an object of the invention is to provide a device inwhich the solvent that helps to clean the tools and sticks is notexposed, or in any case is in a protected position, in order to preventsparks and cigarette tabs, which currently cause fires, from fallinginto it.

Another object is to provide a device which is structured so as tohinder the diffusion in the environment of the vapors of the solventused to assist the cleaning of the tools, so as to make the workenvironment more healthy.

A further object is to provide a device which allows to clean tools usedfor spreading putties and mixing paints which is easy to use and allowsthe best utilization of the solvents used.

This aim and these and other objects that will become better apparenthereinafter are achieved by a container with a device for cleaningtools, according to the invention, as set forth in claim 1.

The container is provided in a preferred embodiment with a lid with anaccess slot, which contains an elastic clamp adapted to retain, inalignment with the slot in the lid, the cleaning element, whichcomprises two facing layers made of permeable and abrasive material,between which the tool to be cleaned is made to slide, said tool beinginserted and moved through the slot in said lid.

A suitable solvent is introduced in such container in order to keep thecleaning element at least moist, so as to facilitate the softening andseparation of the residues of putty and paint from the surfaces of thetool to be cleaned.

Such an invention is particularly advantageous, since it simplifies thecleaning of tools, because the operator, through the slot in the lid,inserts the part to be cleaned of the tool into the container and movesit between the abrasive layers, obtaining, after a few movements, theperfect cleaning of the tool.

It is advantageous because the solvent used is collected in thecontainer, by which it is protected against accidental contact withsparks, cigarette tabs and anything else which might set it on fire.

It is advantageous because the solvent used is enclosed in thecontainer, which limits the escape of its vapors, helping to make theenvironment more healthy.

It is advantageous because the container or tray according to theinvention allows easier solvent handling, both of the clean solvent andof the used solvent in which the particles of the residues of thecleaning of the tools are dissolved.

Finally, it is advantageous because it can be provided with pocketsintended to accommodate the cleaned tools, thus making it easy to findthem and difficult to lose them.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will becomebetter apparent from the following detailed description of a preferredbut not exclusive embodiment thereof, illustrated by way of non-limitingexample in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the container according to the inventionin the open condition;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the container of FIG. 1 in the closedcondition;

FIG. 3 is a lateral front view of the container of FIG. 1 in the opencondition;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the clamp-shaped structure intended toclamp together two abrasive cleaning layers when they are insertedwithin the container of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a front view, taken along a longitudinal direction, of theclamp of FIG. 4, with the cleaning layers in the active position andwith a tool to be cleaned inserted between them;

FIG. 6 is a sectional lateral front view of the invention, taken along atransverse plane, in the condition ready for use, illustrating a tool tobe cleaned in the insertion position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

With reference to the figures, a tray-shaped container according to theinvention is provided with a device for cleaning tools adapted forspreading putties and mixing paints. It comprises a container 1, whichis provided with a lid 2 and with an access slot 3, an elastic clamp 5designed to be accommodated within the container 1 and shaped so as toretain a cleaning element 6 in alignment with the slot 3 in the lid 2that form the cleaning device. The cleaning element 6 is provided withtwo facing surfaces made of abrasive material, so that a tool 10 to becleaned—inserted through the slot 3 between said facing surfaces of thecleaning element 6 and moved between them—is freed from residues 31 ofputties and paints that have become attached to the surfaces of the tool10 to be cleaned.

The tray-like container 1 is therefore provided with the lid 2 of theopenable type, which is normally joined stably thereto by means of acylindrical hinge 7 and is locked in the closed condition by means 11,normally of the snap-acting type. The means 11 are constituted, in theembodiment shown by way of example in the drawings, by an eccentricdevice with an actuation lever 13 and an engagement wing 12 whichprotrudes from the rim of the lid 2.

The openable lid 2 comprises a top surface 15 with a recess 16, which isdirected toward the inside of the container 1 and at the center of whichthe slot 3 is located. Finally, its perimeter is delimited by a border14.

The profile of the transverse cross-section of the recess 16 in the lid2 resembles the shape of an inverted trapezoid, so that it applies alocking pressure to the cleaning element 6 in the position in which ithas been inserted in the clamp 5.

The container 1 is provided with at least one pocket, which protrudesfrom at least one of its perimetric surfaces and is designed to containthe clean tools.

In the preferred embodiment, such as the one shown by way of example inthe accompanying drawings, the container 1 is provided with two pockets20 and 21, which protrude from two of its perimetric surfaces; usually,one is wide enough to accommodate spatulas and the other one is smallerand designed to accommodate the sticks.

The profile of the transverse cross-section of the clamp 5, at least inthe preferred embodiment, resembles the shape of an inverted letteromega, with two lateral top edges 23 contoured so as to mate with thetop edges of the container 1 which are oriented parallel to the slot 3on the lid 2 and a sunken, substantially V-shaped central part 24, 25.The edges 23 are at such a mutual distance that when they are coupled tothe top edges of the container 1, the facing surfaces 24 and 25 of theV-shaped part of the clamp are moved from a mutually spaced position tothe position in which they are substantially mutually parallel, as shownin FIG. 6, and in which they lock the cleaning element 6.

Moreover, the surfaces 24 and 25 have a plurality of openings 30, whichare distributed so as to facilitate on the one hand the circulation ofthe solvent away from and toward the cleaning element 6 and on the otherhand the migration of the dirt particles detached from the spatulas andsticks when, through the slot 3 in the lid 2, they are inserted betweenthe two layers of the cleaning element 6.

The elastic clamp 5 therefore has the facing surfaces 24 and 25 whichare V-shaped, at least when it is separated from the container 1, andare spaced by an extent usually comprised between 5 and 20 millimeters,in order to contain two abrasive and porous layers which provide thecleaning element 6.

Such layers can be obtained from two separate mats having a rectangularperimetric profile, which are normally provided by means of layers knownby the name “Scotch-Brite”, or from a single mat folded into a U-shape.

The elastic clamp 5 has, toward its top, at the sides of the hollowformed by the V-shaped facing surfaces 24 and 25, two substantiallyhorizontal surfaces 27 and 28, which are designed to support the upperedges 29 of the cleaning element 6, pressed by the lid 2, and inparticular by the recessed part 16 thereof, so that said cleaningelement 6, even when it is actuated by the tool 10 to be cleaned,remains stationary in position.

The cleaning element 6, as mentioned, is normally constituted by twolayers of a material of the fibrous type, which are in any case adaptedto perform a delicate abrasive action on the surfaces of the tool 10inserted and moved between them.

Such cleaning element, when inactive, therefore with the container I inthe open condition, is arranged so that its upper parts 29 are flexedinward above the surfaces 27 and 28 of the elastic clamp 5, where theyare then fastened by the recessed part 16 of the lid, which acts forsaid edges as a locking means.

During production, the details of the invention may vary withoutaltering the functional logic on which the invention is based andtherefore without said variations abandoning the scope of the protectiondefined by the appended claims.

The disclosures in Italian Patent Application No. AR2005A000020 fromwhich this application claims priority are incorporated herein byreference.

1. A container with a device for cleaning tools for spreading puttiesand paints, the container being a tray-shaped container, provided with alid having an access slot, and the device comprising: a cleaning elementprovided with two facing surfaces made of abrasive material; and anelastic clamp adapted to be accommodated within said container andadapted to retain, in alignment with the slot in the lid of thecontainer, said cleaning element.
 2. The container with cleaning deviceof claim 1, wherein said lid is openable, the container furthercomprising locking means for locking said lid in a closed condition. 3.The container with cleaning device of claim 1, wherein said lid isopenable and comprises: a perimetric border; a top surface; a recess insaid top surface, said access slot being located in said recess and saidperimetric border being accommodatable on an edge border of thecontainer.
 4. The container with cleaning device of claim 3, whereinsaid recess in the lid has a transverse, cross-sectional shape of aninverted trapezoid.
 5. The container with cleaning device of claim 1,wherein the container is provided with at least one pocket whichprotrudes from at least one perimetric surface thereof.
 6. The containerwith cleaning device of claim 1, wherein the container is provided withtwo pockets which protrude from two perimetric surfaces thereof.
 7. Thecontainer with cleaning device of claim 3, wherein said elastic clamphas a cross-sectional profile of an inverted letter omega, that has acentral sunken V-shaped part and two lateral top borders contoured so asto mate with the edge border of the tray-like container, said twolateral top borders being oriented parallel to the slot on said lid, atsuch a mutual distance that upon coupling thereof to the edge border ofthe tray-like container facing surfaces of the V-shaped part of saidelastic clamp are forced from a mutually spaced position to a positionin which said facing surfaces of the V-shaped part are mutuallysubstantially parallel.
 8. The container with cleaning device of claim7, wherein said facing surfaces of the V-shaped part of the elasticclamp are provided with a plurality of openings.
 9. The container withcleaning device of claim 8, wherein said facing surfaces of the V-shapedpart of the elastic clamp are mutually spaced by an extent adapted tocontain two abrasive and porous layers which provide the two facingsurfaces of abrasive material of the cleaning element.
 10. The containerwith cleaning device of claim 7, wherein said elastic clamp has twosubstantially horizontal surfaces that end with said two lateral topborders and connect to sides of the V-shaped part formed by said facingsurfaces thereof, said two horizontal surfaces being adapted to supportupper borders of the cleaning element when said upper borders of thecleaning element are pressed by the lid.
 11. The container with cleaningdevice of claim 1, wherein said cleaning element is constituted by twofibrous layers which are adapted to perform an abrasive action onsurfaces of a tool inserted and moved therebetween.
 12. The containerwith cleaning device of claim 10, wherein said cleaning element isformed by two mutually facing layers which are adapted to beaccommodated between the facing surfaces of the V-shaped part of theelastic clamp, with said upper borders of the cleaning element folded onsaid facing surfaces of the V-shaped part of the elastic clamp, andlocked by pressure applied by said lid when arranged in the closedcondition.